Beginning today, Dr. Todd Linn will be posting each Thursday as part of our Chucklawless.com team. I’m honored to have him joining us, and I know we’ll all learn from his wisdom. Dr. Linn, who pastored for a number of years, is the author of You’re Either Walking the Walk or Just Running Your Mouth! His website is www.preachingtruth.org. You might recall his post last week about serving as a guest preacher in a church.
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How the preacher handles the Bible in the pulpit sends a message to the congregation–and it may not be the message the preacher intends! Most expository preachers read their texts at the very beginning of their sermon or somewhere during the introduction of the message.
But, how does the preacher read the Word?
Unfortunately, some preachers rush through the reading as though they were trying to “get it out of the way.” It’s as if the preacher were saying, “Just hang in there for a few moments. The ‘good stuff’ will come in my sermon!” But, the “good stuff” is the biblical text. With that truth in mind, here are three simple ways to read the passage:
- Read it appropriately. Make sure your voice and tone are appropriate to the genre and feel of the text. Reading about heaven, for example, usually requires a more joyful tone and pace than reading about the consequences of sin or the horrors of hell. Think about what the author of the text is conveying and ensure that your reading voice, tone, and pace are appropriate to the passage.
- Read it slowly. Again, power and authority are located in the biblical text, not the opinion of the preacher. So, read the passage slowly–not so slow as to become a distraction, but slow enough that everyone present can follow along. Some attenders will, in fact, still be looking up the passage when you begin. Others will be reading in translations that differ a bit from the one you’re using. Give everyone time to process the text as you read.
- Read it thoughtfully. If you’ve prepared the sermon well, then you’ve already read the passage several times in your study. But when you stand in the pulpit, many (most?) will be hearing it for the very first time. Imagine what it would be like to hear this passage as one who had not previously studied it. You’ll be explaining the passage later when you unpack it in the sermon, but you can convey a lot of meaning in carefully reading it in the pulpit. So, give much thought and preparation to your reading.
And, always remember that God Himself is speaking through your reading of the text!
In Anglican and other liturgical churches there are usually two or three readings from Scripture at services of Holy Communion,, one from the Old Testament or the Acts of the Apostles, one from the Epistles or Revelation, and one from the Gospels. The Gospel reading is usually read by an assistant minister or the presiding minister. The first one or two readings are usually read by a lector, a member of the congregation whose liturgical ministry is the public reading of the Holy Scriptures. They may be read by an assistant minister such as a lay reader. Tips on reading that I picked up over the years as a lay reader are to read in one’s natural voice, not an affected voice; read prayerfully, remembering that one is in presence of God and that the public reading of the Holy Scriptures is an act of worship; read clearly, enunciating each word and projecting one’s voice so the congregation can hear the Word, bearing in mind that some churches do not have sound systems; and to read the Scripture passage as proclamation, remembering that one is declaring the excellencies of the One who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. The role of the preacher is to elaborate and enlarge on what God is saying in his Word. His sermon derives whatever authority that it has from God’s Word. It has no authority of its own. In churches that have no pastor, a service of Morning Prayer typically is the chief Sunday service. It has two Scripture readings, one from the Old Testament and the other from the New Testament, psalms, and canticles (songs taken from Scripture). The same tips are also applicable to reading passages from the Scripture at services of Morning Prayer.